diff --git a/base/serialize.go b/base/serialize.go
index 1b3da23..094257f 100644
--- a/base/serialize.go
+++ b/base/serialize.go
@@ -128,6 +128,18 @@ func getTarContent(tr *tar.Reader, name string) []byte {
 	panic("File not found!")
 }
 
+func MarshalAttribute(a Attribute) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
+	ret := make(map[string]interface{})
+	marshaledAttrRaw, err := a.MarshalJSON()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	err = json.Unmarshal(marshaledAttrRaw, &ret)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return ret, nil
+}
 
 func DeserializeAttribute(data []byte) (Attribute, error) {
 	type JSONAttribute struct {
@@ -170,7 +182,10 @@ func DeserializeAttributes(data []byte) ([]Attribute, error) {
 
 	// Define a JSON shim Attribute
 	var attrs []json.RawMessage
-	err := json.Unmarshal(data, attrs)
+	err := json.Unmarshal(data, &attrs)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to deserialize attributes: %v", err)
+	}
 
 	ret := make([]Attribute, len(attrs))
 	for i, v := range attrs {
@@ -303,12 +318,14 @@ type ClassifierMetadataV1 struct {
 
 type ClassifierDeserializer struct {
 	gzipReader io.Reader
-	fileReader io.Reader
+	fileReader io.ReadCloser
 	tarReader  *tar.Reader
 	Metadata   *ClassifierMetadataV1
 }
 
-// ReadSerializedClassifierStub is the counterpart of CreateSerializedClassifierStub
+// ReadSerializedClassifierStub is the counterpart of CreateSerializedClassifierStub.
+// It's used inside SaveableClassifiers to read information from a perviously saved
+// model file.
 func ReadSerializedClassifierStub(filePath string) (*ClassifierDeserializer, error) {
 
 	f, err := os.Open(filePath)
@@ -333,9 +350,15 @@ func ReadSerializedClassifierStub(filePath string) (*ClassifierDeserializer, err
 	//
 	// Parse METADATA
 	//
-	metadataBytes := getTarContent(tz, "METADATA")
 	var metadata ClassifierMetadataV1
-	err = json.Unmarshal(metadataBytes, &metadata)
+	ret := &ClassifierDeserializer{
+		f,
+		gzr,
+		tz,
+		&metadata,
+	}
+
+	err = ret.GetJSONForKey("METADATA", ret.Metadata)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error whilst reading METADATA: %s", err)
 	}
@@ -345,31 +368,36 @@ func ReadSerializedClassifierStub(filePath string) (*ClassifierDeserializer, err
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("METADATA: wrong format_version for this version of golearn")
 	}
 
-	ret := &ClassifierDeserializer{
-		f,
-		gzr,
-		tz,
-		&metadata,
-	}
-
 	return ret, nil
 }
 
+// GetBytesForKey returns the bytes at a given location in the output.
 func (c *ClassifierDeserializer) GetBytesForKey(key string) ([]byte, error) {
 	return getTarContent(c.tarReader, key), nil
 }
 
-func (c *ClassifierDeserializer) Close() {
-
+// GetJSONForKey deserializes a JSON key in the output file.
+func (c *ClassifierDeserializer) GetJSONForKey(key string, v interface{}) error {
+	b, err := c.GetBytesForKey(key)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return json.Unmarshal(b, v)
 }
 
+// Close cleans up everything.
+func (c *ClassifierDeserializer) Close() {
+	c.fileReader.Close()
+}
+
+// ClassifierSerializer is an object used by SaveableClassifiers.
 type ClassifierSerializer struct {
 	gzipWriter *gzip.Writer
-	fileWriter io.Writer
+	fileWriter io.WriteCloser
 	tarWriter  *tar.Writer
 }
 
-// Close finalizes the Classifier serialization session
+// Close finalizes the Classifier serialization session.
 func (c *ClassifierSerializer) Close() error {
 
 	// Finally, close and flush the various levels
@@ -389,18 +417,14 @@ func (c *ClassifierSerializer) Close() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Could not close gz: %s", err)
 	}
 
-	//if err := c.fileWriter.Flush(); err != nil {
-	//	return fmt.Errorf("Could not flush file: %s", err)
-	//}
-
-	//if err := c.fileWriter.Flush(); err != nil {
-	//	return fmt.Errorf("Could not close file: %s", err)
-	//}
+	if err := c.fileWriter.Close(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Could not close file: %s", err)
+	}
 
 	return nil
 }
 
-// WriteBytesForKey creates a new entry in the serializer file
+// WriteBytesForKey creates a new entry in the serializer file with some user-defined bytes.
 func (c *ClassifierSerializer) WriteBytesForKey(key string, b []byte) error {
 
 	//
@@ -412,18 +436,30 @@ func (c *ClassifierSerializer) WriteBytesForKey(key string, b []byte) error {
 	}
 
 	if err := c.tarWriter.WriteHeader(hdr); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("Could not write header for '%s': %s", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("Could not write header for '%s': %s", key, err)
 	}
 	//
 	// Write data
 	//
 	if _, err := c.tarWriter.Write(b); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("Could not write data for '%s': %s", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("Could not write data for '%s': %s", key, err)
 	}
 
 	return nil
 }
 
+// WriteJSONForKey creates a new entry in the file with an interface serialized as JSON.
+func (c *ClassifierSerializer) WriteJSONForKey(key string, v interface{}) error {
+
+	b, err := json.Marshal(v)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return c.WriteBytesForKey(key, b)
+
+}
+
 // CreateSerializedClassifierStub generates a file to serialize into
 // and writes the METADATA header.
 func CreateSerializedClassifierStub(filePath string, metadata ClassifierMetadataV1) (*ClassifierSerializer, error) {
@@ -463,28 +499,12 @@ func CreateSerializedClassifierStub(filePath string, metadata ClassifierMetadata
 	// Write the METADATA entry
 	//
 
-	// Marshal the classifier information
-	cB, err := json.Marshal(metadata)
+	// Marshal the classifier information (TODO: split this into another method)
+	err = ret.WriteJSONForKey("METADATA", &metadata)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	if len(cB) == 0 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("JSON marshal error: %s", err)
 	}
 
-	// Write the information into the file
-	hdr = &tar.Header{
-		Name: "METADATA",
-		Size: int64(len(cB)),
-	}
-	if err := tw.WriteHeader(hdr); err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Could not write METADATA object %s", err)
-	}
-
-	if _, err := tw.Write(cB); err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Could not write METDATA contents: %s", err)
-	}
-
 	return ret, nil
 
 }